Comments for Melon's Puzzleshttps://mellowmelon.wordpress.com
Now posting new content at http://www.gmpuzzles.com/blog/Sat, 18 Feb 2017 11:47:07 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/Comment on Puzzle 393 (Heyawacky) by skynethttps://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/puzzle-393/#comment-5461
Sat, 18 Feb 2017 11:47:07 +0000http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/?p=3713#comment-5461Awesome puzzle.24 mins !
]]>Comment on Puzzle 135 (Double Back) [Triple Back] by Puzzle 49 / Triple Back | BetaWorldProblemshttps://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/puzzle-135/#comment-5183
Tue, 22 Dec 2015 16:25:53 +0000http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/?p=1208#comment-5183[…] is a Triple Back, variant on MellowMelon’s Double Back. Briefly, draw a path through all square centers […]
]]>Comment on USPC 2015 is over by MellowMelonhttps://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/uspc-2015-is-over/#comment-5118
Sun, 06 Sep 2015 05:13:11 +0000http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/?p=4141#comment-5118For Kakuro with Pentominoes, first of all I think you can get virtually everything in the top right and bottom left once you get the magic number. (EDIT: Or rather, there are a few pairs that are resolved later. This is probably why you said “few” instead of “all”. You probably did get as far as you could in these corners.)

After that, think about the top left square where the 9 and 20 cross. If that cell merges with the cells below to make a pentomino containing all the numbers of the 9 sum, then the other two pentomino cells are 8,9, contradicting the vertical 6 sum nearby. This is enough to deduce that it’s an L pentomino containing all numbers of that 20 up top. Now you can get a whole bunch of other pentominoes, and this opens the door for a lot of “sum this group of cells in two ways” logic.

]]>Comment on USPC 2015 is over by zotmeisterhttps://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/uspc-2015-is-over/#comment-5116
Sun, 06 Sep 2015 04:20:55 +0000http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/?p=4141#comment-5116Well, properly it’s the name of a rum cocktail (and properly has a ‘y’ sound thrown in after the ‘n’ as it’s properly spelled ‘piña colada’ and that’s what one does with a tilde over an ‘n’, but it’s probably mispronounced more than it’s pronounced properly) that happens to be the “national drink” of Puerto Rico, but to the rest of the U.S. in practice it’s a toss-up as to whether it’s better known as a flavor combination (pineapple/coconut – I detest it) or a lyric from a Rupert Holmes song (titled “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”: “If you like piña coladas, and getting caught in the rain…”). Given my teetotalism, that’s a hat trick of hatred for me.

I *think* I got all the quote marks and parentheses correct in that paragraph…

]]>Comment on USPC 2015 is over by MellowMelonhttps://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/uspc-2015-is-over/#comment-5115
Sun, 06 Sep 2015 04:01:21 +0000http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/?p=4141#comment-5115“Hardest puzzle for MellowMelon” is probably the correct (and not as distinguished) title to award that puzzle. As past USPC discussions have made clear, my perceived level of difficulty goes way up when a puzzle requires you to sort through a lot of information. It’s one of the main reasons my Sudoku solving speed is never going to catch up.

I was wondering if that’s what the title was supposed to be; the missing syllable did indeed confuse me. Also, I know the phrase but I didn’t even know it was from a song until just now, though my musical knowledge is beyond abysmal.

]]>Comment on USPC 2015 is over by zotmeisterhttps://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/uspc-2015-is-over/#comment-5114
Sun, 06 Sep 2015 03:55:35 +0000http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/?p=4141#comment-5114With motris.livejournal.com having been retired, it seems that here would be the new bitching post 🙂

I’m glad you liked my puzzle. I find it hard to believe it could possibly be the hardest one on the test (I didn’t compete today – or at least, not on the USPC) given the other composers there, but for now I’ll have to take your word for it. Fun fact: Nick Baxter changed its name twice, each time deleting one letter. I personally think he should have stopped after the first, because now it looks like it’s missing a syllable. Also, I *hate* that song. I came up with the name halfway through crafting the puzzle, and had the song stuck in my head the rest of the time. Perhaps my puzzle *was* the hardest if others had the same problem working on it XD

]]>Comment on Puzzle 139 (Endless Labyrinth) by A Goat Noblehttps://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2009/12/24/puzzle-139/#comment-5068
Fri, 05 Jun 2015 12:09:34 +0000http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/?p=1231#comment-5068I strongly agree that it’s better without needing to visit every cell. That requirement just telegraphed way too much of the puzzle’s layout to the challenger too early on.
]]>Comment on Puzzle 255 (Slalom) by A Goat Noblehttps://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/puzzle-255/#comment-5067
Thu, 04 Jun 2015 23:41:29 +0000http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/?p=1982#comment-5067I think that Slalom puzzles that don’t quickly telegraph the answer to the challenger from the general layout must be really hard to make, because something about the layout of most of them seems to quickly give away what the creator was going for. Then again, maybe it’s something that’s generally an issue for people who tend to have very visual minds?
]]>Comment on Puzzle 263 (Slitherlink) [Dominoes] by Puzzle 16 / Slitherlink [Domino] | BetaWorldProblemshttps://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/puzzle-263/#comment-5036
Fri, 03 Apr 2015 01:13:21 +0000http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/?p=2147#comment-5036[…] Slitherlink with 20 clues taken out as dominoes and their original positions shaded. For more lucid rules please visit MellowMelon’s puzzle 263. […]
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